According to the findings, the total number of records breached more than doubled from 2018 to 2019. This same doubling also occurred between 2017 and 2018, revealing a dramatic upward trend over the last few years. Corresponding with this, the average number of individuals affected per breach reached 71,311 in 2019, nearly twice that of 2018 (39,739). Additionally, this was the first time since 2016 that the number of breaches reached over 300--the 386 incidents in 2019 represented a 33% increase over 2018.
“Last year, ‘Hacking and IT Incidents’ was the top cause of breaches in healthcare, accounting for more than 60% of all data leakage,” said Anurag Kahol, CTO of Bitglass. “This is not particularly surprising given the fact that threat actors are maturing their capabilities and adapting to security measures organisations put in place, like multi-factor authentication. Healthcare databases are heavily targeted by cybercriminals as they hold a wealth of sensitive information like medical histories, Social Security numbers, personal financial data, and more. This means that healthcare firms must employ the appropriate technologies and cybersecurity best practices to ensure all data within their IT systems is secure around the clocks.”
Key Findings: